Wests Tigers skipper Apisai Koroisau will be able to serve the majority, if not all of his suspension in the Pacific Bowl tournament.
The most important player for Fiji, Koroisau will miss the entirety of the tournament as Fiji take on the Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea, with both of their games to be played in Suva, adding insult to injury for the captain.
Missing the games will sting Koroisau given the chance to play at home, but the NRL have confirmed per a News Corp report that Koroisau will be allowed to serve two matches of his three-game suspension during the tournament.
Koroisau picked up the suspension for an offence during the final round during a horror loss to the Parramatta Eels which locked the club into the wooden spoon yet again.
The Fijians will miss Koroisau during the tournament, with the former State of Origin dummy half having spent time in the halves as well as his proffered position during recent years for the island nation.
Whether the dummy half - who will be critical for the Tigers as they aim to work their way off the bottom of the 2025 NRL ladder - is able to use all three games of his suspension will depend on Fiji's performance.
While there are only two round robin games scheduled, the winners of the Bowl tournament will play a promotion and relegation game on the finals day in Sydney against the third-placed team in the Pacific Championship tournament played between Australia, New Zealand and Samoa.
If Fiji qualify, Koroisau will have a third game of his suspension counted and be available for Round 1 with the Tigers next year, otherwise he will be unavailable.
Both the Pacific Championships and Bowl tournaments start next weekend, while Samoa have a Test tour of England due to commence later in October as the other major end of season international matches to be played.
